BETTER HEALTH — MADE SIMPLE !Thirty-four Steps to Happier Living – A Complete Online Health Course! Published by TRAIL GUIDES - Altamont, TN 37301 USA Road maps for pilgrims traveling home
1- We have seen in recent years that man's knowledge has greatly increased in amazing ways. New inventions show that the time of the return of Jesus Christ in near. In these inventions, man has found some very clever ways of moving weight by means of levers and hinges. He has made machines which control the speed with which the levers move. But these inventions of man, which God in His providence has made possible, are far less marvelous than the machinery within your body, with its complicated temperature controls, pumping devices, computers, delicate hormones, electronic circuitry, and sensing mechanisms and switches. 2- Now, those of you, who, like auto mechanics, will recognize that when given fuel from our food, our bodies will perform some of the same functions that an engine can perform. Turning joints are like wheels. Muscles are like cylinders. Nerve endings are like spark plugs. The nervous system is like the distributor. The arteries are like the fuel line. The lungs are like the carburetor. The heart is like the fuel pump. The digestive organs like the fuel system. The nerve impulses are like the ignition. Waste is like the exhaust. The use of oxygen is like air intake. 3- But your body machinery does what no invention of man can do. It can take fruit and vegetables and turn them into fuel. Food containing fat, provides insulation and storage of energy. Protein helps make and repair body tissues. The minerals can regulate activity of certain glands. 4- For all these functions to be carried on properly, the whole body must be in balanced Health. Let us review some of the essentials for good health. Pure air, sunlight, abstemiousness, rest, exercise, proper diet, the use of water and trust in divine power. Also, we should never forget PEACE OF MIND that comes only through obedience and trust in God. We must never forget that it is the great wish of God that we should have LIFE, and have it MORE ABUNDANTLY. 5- A story is told of a great ruler who called one of his wisest men to him. "I wish my people to feel that I give them the greatest gifts in the world" he said. "Now tell me, what is the most wonderful thing that a man can have?" The wise man looked at the king and shook his head. "The greatest gift in the world is not yours to give," he said. "Every living man already has it, for the most valuable thing in the world is LIFE. And there is nothing else to compare with it." 6- That was surely a true answer. Life is so mysterious and wonderful that with all the wisdom of our age, and the inventions of science, still no one can truly explain what life really is. The most brilliant man can only tell about life. They cannot produce nor fully explain it. 7- As you read this, every part of your body is ALIVE. And nearly every part is working to keep you alive. Each part that is working is made up of cells. And within those cells are the most amazing mysteries known to man. Within those cells is that power from God called LIFE, and that life is operating the most amazing mechanism, which keeps all in control, each cell doing its own work. 8- In the cells of all living things are controls which make them develop in certain ways, forming the proper creatures. Cats become cats and remain cats. Chickens become chickens. Whales become whales. Mangos have seed which grow mango trees. People develop as people. How? WHY? Through the power of a God who is a God of order and not of confusion. How else would sweat gland cells know how to do their work? How do brain cells know how to think and remember? How do bone cells become bones? 9- For example, let us just imagine one tiny cell so small that millions of them could be put in just one small part of an organ. But in the nucleus are tiny threads which determine what that cell is part of, and what that cell can do, and how that cell can reproduce. Within those threads in a human cell is a substance which is known as DNA. This substance controls and directs the cell division in just the right manner. It controls the color of your eyes, the shape of your body, your personality and a million other facts that make you what you are. The storage capacity of DNA is so great that if I had just one teaspoon full of that substance, I could hold the information which would need an electronic computer 100 miles (160 km.) long, 100 miles (160 km.) high and 100 miles (160 km.) wide to hold the same amount! 10- The Bible tells us where life comes from. Paul said "God gives to all, life, and breath, and all things." Acts 17:25. And my dear friends, we have not begun to talk about the amazing, unbelievable, glorious power of God. Beyond the small molecules of the DNA which I have mentioned are the atoms! The food you eat, the air you breathe, is all of atoms. Everything you see, everything in the world, is made up of atoms. Billions and billions of them so tiny that no one can see them, and yet so vast that there is a universe between their parts! 11- The whole world is made of atoms, all in tremendous movement. The seat upon which you are sitting is mostly nothingness, held together by the forces of whirling electrons moving so rapidly that they cannot be crushed. How fast do these electrons orbit around the nucleus of an atom? Well, divide a second into one million parts. In one of those parts of a second the electrons will go around its nucleus scores of times! You say it is too much for the human mind to understand. It is, but there is more. 12- For their size, those electrons are as far from their nucleus as the planets are from the sun. Here our mind must really stop. We can only praise God and say, "How great Thou art!" The Bible says, "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain to it." Psalm 139:6. 13- But more wonderful than all these is something contained in this book called the Bible. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and sinned in the garden of Eden, God promised a Saviour, who would some day crush the head of the serpent, the Devil, and take away the sins of those who believed in Him. God would then give them a new home, like the garden of Eden, and after this earth was made new, they would live here in happiness forever. 14- Whenever God's plans for the benefit and salvation of man have been revealed, Satan has tried to introduce counterfeits. Something so nearly like the truth that people would be deceived by it. But still it is not the truth so no one is helped by it. 15- Abraham’s grandson, Jacob had twelve sons. Near the end of Jacob's life, the Holy Spirit revealed to Jacob that the Redeemer would come in the family of his son Judah. This is recorded in Genesis 49:10 16- Now the nationality and the tribe through which the Redeemer would come had been revealed. Many years later, to King David, who was of the line of Judah, the promise was given that through one of his descendants the world's Redeemer would come. Psalms 89:35-37. Thus we can see how God progressively gave details by which the true Redeemer of the world could be identified; from the nation of the Jews, from the tribe of Judah, and from the family of David. 17- In later years, through the prophet Micah, as recorded in Micah 5:2, "But thou Bethlehem Ephrata, though thou be little amongst the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel: whose goings forth have been of old, from the days of eternity." In these words two great things are revealed. (1) The very town, Bethlehem, in which the Redeemer was to be born was given. (2) The Redeemer would be God incarnate or born in the family of man. 18- The unusual circumstances of his birth were foretold. Since he was God, who existed from eternity, who was to be born into this world as a baby, He could have no earthly man for His father. 742 years before He was born, the prophet Isaiah, moved by the Spirit of God, wrote, "The Lord Himself shall give you a sign: Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." The word means, "God with us." Isaiah 7:14 19- Now one more point needed to be revealed. The time when the Redeemer would begin His work on earth. This wonderful fact was given to Daniel, the prophet, when he was in the city of Babylon. It is recorded in the book of Daniel, which was written more than 500 years before Christ was born: "Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah (the anointed One), the Prince shall be seven weeks and three score and two weeks." Daniel 9:38. 20- The commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem was given by King Artexerxes in 457 B.C. as written in the book of Ezra, Chapters 7:12-26. In prophecy one day is given for one year of literal time. So the sixty-nine weeks revealed to Daniel would represent 483 years of actual time. This would mean that 483 years after the year 457 B.C. Christ would begin His public ministry on earth. 21- Notice how carefully God has revealed details over hundreds of years of time, that all point to only one possible person who would be the world's Redeemer. (1) Nationality of Abraham, the Hebrews (2) Tribe of Judah, the Jews (3) Family of David, (4) Town of Bethlehem, (5) His mother a virgin (6) to begin his public work at a certain time (483 years after 457 B.C. brings us up to the year 27 A.D.). 22- Even though many great men should arise, claiming to be the Redeemer of the world, or the Messiah, or the chosen of God, unless they could show that all of these prophecies were fulfilled in them, their claims would be false. 23- But all of these prophecies were fulfilled in the life of Jesus Christ. He was born in the town of Bethlehem. His birth was even announced by angels. Those who lived at the time, recorded that His mother was a virgin, and that His birth was by divine intervention. He was baptized in the Jordan in the year 27 A.D. and anointed by the Holy Spirit; this made Him the 'Messiah' -- the Anointed One predicted in Daniel. His mother was of the line of David. Jesus Christ is the only man who has ever been born, whose birth and ministry fulfilled exactly all the requirements made by the prophets, concerning His life. In Jesus we have the fulfillment of all the promises of Abraham, to Jacob, to David, concerning the nationality, the family, the time and the place of the Redeemer's birth. Here is additional information about the Old Testament prophecies of Christ: [Moses predicted:] "The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto Him ye shall listen."-Deuteronomy 18:15 (also see verse 18). "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel."-Isaiah 7:14 (fulfilled in Matthew 1:22-23). "He is despised and rejected of men; a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not." Isaiah 53:3 (fulfilled in John 1:10-11). "He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth."-Isaiah 53:7 (fullfilled in Matthew 27:13). "They part My garments among them, and cast lots upon My vesture.” -Psalm 22:18 (fulfilled in Matthew 27:35). Read Isaiah 53 slowly and thoughtfully. LESSON EIGHT - AIR POWER1- How would you like a cheap, easy to follow prescription to help keep you in good health? That is what I am going to share with you in this lesson. 2- You know, most people do not become tired of being sick until they are about forty years of age. In early childhood we take for granted common colds, mumps, measles, bumps, falls, and even broken bones. During adolescence there may be some vague joint pains. During the twenties we seem to have constitutions as tough as steel. We can eat anything, go without sleep, follow irregular, inconsistent programs of daily living—nothing seems to bother us too much! Then, gradually we become aware that there is rust in what we thought was stainless steel! Vague symptoms annoy us. Allergies bother us. We can no longer eat everything, and go without sleep. Our memory is not so good. We are often tired out. 3- It is surprising how few people think of using the prescription I am going to give you to help keep in top health. The prescription is simply this: "Breathe deeply of pure, fresh air!” 4- You may recall that we earlier mentioned the wonderful respiratory system and that our cells need oxygen. Otherwise the cells cannot utilize the fuel that must be carried to be burned in doing their work. 5- The cells that carry oxygen to all parts of the body are the red blood cells. There are about 25 million red blood cells in every drop of blood! Each cell carries a substance called hemoglobin. This hemoglobin combines with the oxygen in your lungs and carries it back to the body cells. From the body cells it carries carbon dioxide back to the lungs. 6- If you could see these microscopic cells on their way to your lungs, you would notice that they are darker in color than when they left. Why? Because the carbon dioxide they are carrying changes their color. You can see this by looking at the veins in your wrist. They look blue under your skin. 7- But the blood that comes from your lungs should be bright red in color as the hemoglobin carries oxygen away to the body cells. Oxygen is absolutely essential to the proper functioning of your body cells. Your brain is the first organ to suffer if you are riot getting enough oxygen. Reasoning, will power, and judgment are affected when oxygen is lacking. More than this, your brain is the electric current of the body and detects disturbances in its flow. Where does this electricity come from? How does the brain keep up the supply? One source is the air we breathe. 8- Your lungs are composed of millions of tiny thinwalled air sacs. If these were all spread out flat, they would cover abut 600 square feet—that is the area of a tennis court! Now, if you sit or stand in a stooped position, you decrease the amount of oxygen that can enter your lungs, and you cheat yourself of this life-giving substance. In fact, shallow breathing may keep parts of your lungs idle so much of the time that germs such as TB can find a good place to grow undisturbed! Probably you sat up straight at the mention of good posture. Now, let us go one step further: Are you breathing correctly? 9- Your most important breathing muscle is located at the base of your lungs and above your stomach. It is called the diaphragm. When your lungs fill properly with air, this muscle is pushed down. When you breathe out, the diaphragm goes back up into the chest cavity. For a moment, practice doing it. 10- You have all noticed that when you run or climb the stairs you breathe more rapidly. This is another reason why regular exercise is so important. It supplies more oxygen to your lungs, and pushes your blood around faster at the same time. The result is that you give yourself a real tonic as your cells get their extra nourishment and life-giving oxygen. The cells that are a bit sluggish and idle from lack of oxygen get flushed out and cleaned up! 11- There is another important factor: The air that you breathe should be as fresh as possible. We are all aware that the air in our big cities is becoming more and more polluted. How sad this is. Often when we are forced to go through dust we quickly cover our noses and mouths with a handkerchief, this may keep out some of the dust but it cannot keep out the poisonous gases, such as carbon monoxide that are increasingly filling our wonderful God-given air. This pollution not only robs you of needed oxygen, but it is also carried into the blood and to the body cells. Breathing polluted air is a definite handicap to good health. In great cities such as London, Los Angeles, Calcutta and Tokyo the air has become a real medical hazard. The smog is so bad in Tokyo that the city has installed oxygen dispensers for the traffic policemen so they can get a few clean breaths from time to time. In other dispensers, pedestrians can insert a coin and breathe clean air when they feel overcome by the terrible fumes in the air. 12- If you are a resident of a big city you may not be able to avoid breathing contaminated air. But by not smoking, you can at least do your part to avoid more needless selfdestruction and self-contamination. You can also rise early in the morning before the traffic is heavy and get some good exercise and deep breathing to start the day right. If you could go to the parks of our large cities early in the morning you would find that there are hundreds of citizens of all ages who are using this prescription for better health. Others do it by means of stationery jogging right in their own yards. 13- As God looks down on the world which was originally surrounded with pure, clear fresh air, He must feel sad to see it invaded by poison gases and filth which are such serious enemies to health. Smoke, smog, dust, germs—all these things are detrimental to your health and mine. As they increase, they make it more difficult to live as God originally planned. 14- Man's God-given air is being invaded. The pure, fresh air is being filled with enemies to good health. Our planet is increasingly becoming invaded by bad air and dangerous impurities and poisons. There is a desperate need of another invasion in the air—an invasion of good, for your good and mine. Such an invasion is coming, for Jesus Christ said, "I will come again." John 14:1. Our air will be purified and life will be livable again without the present dangers. And this is what we want, is it not? 15- As this world gets older, there will be more troubles. God, through the prophet Daniel, predicted, "And there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered." 16- Many years later, Jesus, talking to His disciples, said, "For there shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of this world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." 17- As Jesus was returning to heaven, He looked at His sorrowing disciples and comforted them by saying, "Let not your heart be troubled: Ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: If it were not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am there ye may be also." John 14:1-3. 18- Jesus came from heaven to be born into this world as a man. He was a man—a God-man. He lived for thirty-three and a half years on this world. Of Him it is said, "He did no sin." This is why He can be our Saviour from sin. His very name JESUS, means A SAVIOUR FROM SIN. 19- Jesus began His public ministry when He was thirty years old. During the three and a half years of His public ministry, it is said Jesus went about doing good. He healed the sick, the lame, the blind, and cast out devils, or evil spirits. He calmed the raging sea. He calmed the wind. Nature obeyed Him for He was nature's Creator. The only purpose for His incarnation, His coming to the world in human flesh, was to seek and to save that which was lost. As a physician is to make sick people well, so Jesus is to free us from the power and the effect of sin. Since He is the Creator, He has the power to recreate us. 20- Jesus is moved with compassion when He sees anyone suffer. He invites us, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." 21- Jesus has power over the grave. On one occasion He raised a man who had already been dead in the grave for four days. He was sent to the grave and in the presence of many people He said to the dead, "Lazarus, come forth." And he that was dead came forth. Jesus' power is just the same today and He says to us, "I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in Me though he were dead yet shall he live." John 11:25. 22- At the end of His earthly life, wicked people nailed Jesus to a cross. He voluntarily gave Himself up to die. He had come to this earth to pay the ransom price for man, who because of sin was doomed to destruction. The Bible tells us that "the wages of sin is death." All men are sinners and are doomed to die. But God loved mankind so much that in order to save us from the wages of sin, He sent His son, Jesus, to die for us, and hence, "The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus, our Lord." God says, "whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." 23- After Jesus died on the cross, He was put in the tomb. It was Friday afternoon. On the Sabbath He rested. On Sunday morning, early, He arose from the tomb and from death. He was victorious over death and the grave, man's terrible enemy. Jesus says, "I am He that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for ever more, Amen, and have the keys of hell and of the grave." Now Jesus had the power to save from sin and to give eternal life to anyone who would choose to believe Him and come to Him to receive life and cleansing from sin. 24- Having thus fulfilled the purpose for which He came to the world, Jesus took His disciples to the Mount of Olives. There He blessed them, and ascended into Heaven. As the disciples were gazing upward, two men in white clothing stood by them. These men said, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." Acts 1:11.The two men who said this were angels. 25- It is going to be the same Jesus who comes back. He went bodily and was taken up in a cloud in full view of many people, So, also when He comes back, He will come bodily in a cloud, in full view of all who wait for Him. The Bible says, "And every eye shall see Him." Revelation 1:7. 26- The first time Jesus came to this world was to pay the price of our sins. The second time, He is coming to claim the ones He has bought and to take them out of this world up to heaven with Him. The Bible tells us that He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they will gather Jesus' chosen ones from all over the earth. His chosen ones are those who believe on Him and who obey Him. 27- All the people who have ever lived since the time of Adam and Eve and who have died believing in Jesus will be resurrected. Each will have a glorified body which can never more die. The living saved will be changed and they too will have bodies glorified which cannot be touched by death. All will be changed in a moment and will go to meet the Lord in the air, and will go with Him to heaven: “So shall we ever be with the Lord." 1Th 4:17. 28- All the unbelieving people will be consumed with the brightness of His coming. At this time all the believers, or faithful ones, are taken up and all the unbelievers are dead. In our next lesson we shall learn something concerning the time of Jesus second coming. 29- Friends, His coming is going to make a big division between right and wrong, good and bad, sinner and saint, righteous and wicked. There will be no middle ground. At that time there will be no choosing, no crossing over. Every man's destiny will have been decided for eternal life or eternal death. The choice is ours to make NOW. NOW THERE IS TIME TO CHOOSE TO BELIEVE HIM AND OBEY HIM. He has promised that He will never cast away anyone who comes to Him in faith NOW. 30- Jesus' second coming puts an end to sin. The Bible tells us "Affliction shall not rise up a second time." Na 1:9. "He will swallow up death in victory and the Lord will wipe away tears from off all faces." Isa 25:8. "And the inhabitant shall not say, "I am sick." Isa 33:24 The eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Isa 35:5. 31- Do you have problems? We all have problems. Many problems. The answer to all these is Jesus. Soon He is coming back to put an end to sin and all the problems sin brings to mankind. Do you believe it? Will you accept Him today? Will you begin to follow Him now? |
